Fourteen years ago, three Wyoming businessmen looked at 2,000 acres of rolling prairie southwest of Cheyenne, Wyo. and envisioned a premier industrial park connecting two railroads.
Today, Cheyenne Logistics Hub, formerly known as the Swan Ranch Industrial Park, is the premier industrial park and transportation hub in the Rocky Mountain Region, praised for its unique and unparalleled interstate and rail access.
The park is occupied by Searing Industries, Dr. Elsey's, Liberty Services, Vestas Wind, Sinclair Holly Frontier and various frac sand supply customers.
The vision of Granite Peak Group's original partners, Rich Fairservis, the late Neil McMurry and Ron McMurry, combined with an $80 million investment has made this shovel-ready park a reality, said Josh Jamison, Granite Peak Group managing partner.
The company broke ground on Swan Ranch Industrial Park in 2008 and opened in 2012. The park was rebranded the Cheyenne Logistics Hub several years ago.
The logistics of having access to the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific rail systems and two interstate highway systems (Interstate 80 and Interstate 25) has attracted companies wanting to expand their business.
Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins said, “It is great for the city of Cheyenne to have this public private partnership that helps attract businesses to Cheyenne. The Granite Peak Group has attracted businesses that have been awesome community members and they have provided exceptional paying jobs.”
Betsey Hale, CEO of Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development organization for Cheyenne and Laramie County appreciates having such a great resource in the community.
“Having a dual-served rail opportunity and an abundance of available land, all while being miles from Colorado provides another tool in our tool box for helping attract businesses to the area,” Hale said.
In 2014, Searing Industries built one of North America's most state-of-the-art tube mills on 30 acres of the industrial park. The company opened the 200,000 square manufacturing facility to extend its products and services to distributors and equipment manufacturers in the Plains and the Midwest. In 2022, the company plans to add another 40,000 feet of manufacturing space to its Cheyenne facility.
The industrial park’s transloading and rail car storage capabilities have been very attractive to companies like HollyFrontier Corp. and Vestas American Wind Technologies.
HollyFrontier has worked with Cheyenne Logistics Hub for several years on a number of daily jobs as well as long term special projects. Since 2015, the company has stored rail cars at the rail park. More recently, the park has helped HollyFrontier currently transload naphtha from truck to rail car. Naptha is a flammable liquid created in the process of distilling oil.
Cheyenne Logistics Hub’s “communication, attention to detail and implementation of the designated project(s) contributed to the overall success of the assignment on hand,” HollyFrontier explained.
Vestas has had a good experience with the Cheyenne Logistics Hub for the past six years, added Derrek Semadeni, Vestas Transportation Manager.
Vestas designs, manufactures, installs and services onshore and offshore wind turbines across the globe. At the Cheyenne Logistics Hub, Vestas stores wind blade rail cars and changes the fixtures that hold the wind blades due to various lengths of the wind blades.
“The nature of our business is very technical and requires a significant amount of space and support,” Semadeni explained. “Overall, we have been satisfied with the location being dual served by both main railroads (BNSF and UP) and very happy with the level of support and responsiveness from the Cheyenne Logistics Hub. We hope to continue our business at the Cheyenne Logistics Hub well into the future.”
Dr. Elsey's, a veterinarian-owned cat product brand, completed a 180,000 square feet production facility in the industrial park in 2021. The new production facility, including the rail shed, is four times the size of Dr. Elsey's previous facility in Colorado and gives better access to the railroad system used for product transportation. The availability in Wyoming of high-quality bentonite, the main ingredient used in cat litter, was also a factor.
Cheyenne Logistics Hub's infrastructure includes a short-line operator, transloading, rail car storage, installed fiber, electric, and gas lines, as well as convenient access to water & sewer. Whether a company needs 1 acre or 500, these build-to-suit commercial properties are flexible enough to meet its needs.
Jamison expects more additions to the industrial park soon. There are approximately 1,500 acres available for sale or lease.
